Black Hole Sun
by Aoshi on Speed
Summary: Amy Lee, no relation to the singer b.t.w., is a kid who lives in presant day but one day she falls through a portal into 1878 and practically lands on top of Aoshi. this is a horror because of when I put things in Aoshi's point of view, but then there's L
1. like a kick in the

This is like, my first real fanfic so bear with me if it sucks, it will get better…I hope.

Ch: 1 : hits like a kick in the…

It was around noon and a tall, thin, dark-looking man in a trenchcoat was getting tired of waiting. It's hard to look threatening for so long. But this was where the Battosai was staying and if he found his challenger here, he'd have to fight again. Andthe dark manwould finally have his rematch. Just then he heard a rustle outside. He went out to investigate…nothing but thick forest. But the air had a funny feeling to it. Like a faint smell he couldn't place. The tall man looked for a few seconds longer then shrugged and turned to go inside. Suddenly there was a bright flash and a small girl with chin-length light brown hair suddenly flew out from behind a group of bushes. Her body collided with the dark man's back and the both of them were sent foreward to get a facefull of earth. "_naniwoiutennen_?" which in japaneese means , "what the hell?" he turned to see the kid holding her head and moaning in pain. "owwwww."

She had strange clothes. A jacket with a zipper that had a hood and two strings that came out of two holes on either side of the neck, her pants were a brownish, army green, and had many pockets, she also had a strange-looking bag hanging from her shoulder. Plus, it was obvious that this girl was not Japaneese, with her light hair and skin. Plus, her grey-blue eyes that were not native to Japan. Where did she come from? And what was that flash? The man figured that she must've been a friend of the battousai's who tried to distract him with the flash while battousai made a run for it…she'd obviously screwed up. He grabbed her by the collar and demanded, (**_in Japanese_**) "**_where is the battousai?_**" she answered only with a blank stare.

She only heard jibberish. The girl couldn't understand a word of Japaneese. Wasn't this just a great day. First she gets lost, then she gets flung into a hole, and now some tall, scary-looking guy in a purple jumpsuit and a trench coat had her by the collar and was demanding something of her in a foreign language. "I-I don't understand you…sir." He looked even more angry now. Then he finially spoke English, "who do you think you're kidding? Not even the stupidest tourist comes to Japan without learning Japanese first!" he lifted her up so she was eye level. It finially hit her how tall he was when her feet were a foot and a half off the ground but his eyes were only now eye level. "I will ask you only once more…" he said glaring at her, "where is the Battousai?" the kid was even more confused now than when he was yelling in Japaneese. "the who now?"

"DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME, CHILD! I AM NOT GULLIBLE NOR PATIENT!" the man yelled, the Kid looked scared for a moment then her defiant look returned almost instantly, "LOOK PAL," she yelled back at him, "I DON'T KNOW WHO THIS 'BATTOUSAI' IS OR WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE, BUT I DO KNOW THIS CAN'T BE LEGAL!" nobody had dared use such a tone with him before, nobody was bold enough, or stupid enough for that matter. But this little child obviously had a deathwish. his grip tightened on the kid's jacket. Now the girl knew she should be afraid.

"**_the Battousai has left for Kyoto_**." The tall man turned to see Hajime Saito, a fairly well-known cop, standing by the fence surrounding the Dojo. "**_and why should I trust an officer of the law for tip-offs on a mission that is illegal?"_**

'_wow,_' the girl thought, still suspended in the air, '_this guy must be nuts! Or a genius!_' He went seamlessly from English to japaneese without even stopping to think. "**_I really don't care what happens to the Battousai, but, if you could do the world a favor, don't do too much damage to him before you loose, he'll still need to defeat Makoto Shishio after he's done with you_." Saito said with a cold stare, "_but now that you have your information, I'd suggest you let the kid go. Somebody is bound to be looking for her_**."

The kid, of course, didn't understand a word and thought they were plotting her death. She began to panic, what was she gonna do? She suddenly got an evil idea…but she'd probably have to wait for the one with the slicked-back hair( he may have been a cop,) to go away. She could only do the trick once then run. The tall guy's grip loosened a little on her collar and the cop turned and left. The kid took her chance and brought her knee up as fast and hard as she could. Judging by how quickly he dropped her and fell to the ground in a tight little ball shuddering in pain, she'd hit right on target. "well that's what you get for messing with a swimmer, a good hard kick in the nads! Hahahaha! You can't even walk for a while!"

"you forget one thing…" the man muttered from the ground, "I still have full use of my arms," Lee stopped laughing, "huh?" his arm shot out and pulled the girl's foot out from under her. She fell and hit her head on her bag. Everything went black

It was, indeed, a few hours before he could walk again. That kid was going to pay now! A few minutes later, The kid woke up and looked up it was obvious she was afraid now but tried her damndest not to show it. "well, well, well," he said, "what to do with you? I can't possibly let you get away with this, but I really don't feel like seeing a child's blood right before dinner. So I'm at a loss." Okay, the kid now knew it. This guy was crazy. The small girl began to tremble, what could she do? She couldn't run, she knew this guy could catch her in three strides. She tried to think. Apparently this whole town thought they were in the beginning of the Meiji era in Japan, think, what was going on back then? She spotted the very long sword and sheath. '_of course, The sword ban!_'

"I could carry your sword!" the tall man turned around looking confused, "huh? What are you…"

"I could carry your sword so you don't get in trouble for the sword ban!" The tall man thought for a moment or two. "fine," he tossed the sheathed sword to the girl. "you take the wrap for the swords and I'll bust you out every time you get caught."

"swords? There's more than one?" the girl asked examining the handle seeing if somehow it split or something. "pull the other end." The tall man said, turning to leave. The girl did as the man told and another sword came out of it. Two swords in one sheath. Clever. The girl ran to catch up. "sooooo, what's your name?"

The man looked at her for a moment, "Aoshi, Aoshi Shinomori. And yourself?"

"Amy Lee, ya know, like the singer." The girl tried to joke, Aoshi gave her a dark glare, "heh, guess not. but most people just call me Lee."

"well Lee, get ready, I do not tolerate asinine behavior and you will not get any sympathy from me for any reason." Aoshi said, face still showing no emotion. He began to walk to the outskirts of town "let's go."

By the time Aoshi and lee made it out of town it was already nightfall. The kid was already starting to look rather sleepy, so Aoshi decided to set up camp. "stop, we sleep here tonight." Lee looked around at the small clearing,

"Y'mean on the ground?" she asked.

"of course on the ground," Aoshi sighed, "where else did you expect? An inn? Remember that neither of us have money." The girl still looked a little uneasy,

"but…but what about the wild animals and lions and tigers and elephants"(after a while Aoshi quit paying attention and got started on working on a fire) "and creepy crawlie things…and you!"

Aoshi turned around sharply at the last comment and gave the girl an evil glare. "what?" he growled. The girl didn't seem to notice his death glare and went right on talking, "I mean honestly, where I come from they'd put you a way for a long time for kidnapping a kid but you really don't seem to care! Are you a rebel or just crazy!" Aoshi did not answer her, the truth was probably a little of both but he figured she didn't need to know that…what use was it to pour out his black little heart to some kid he just met. "you should go find some food." He said sharply, totally ignoring Lee's question.

"what?" She asked, bewildered. "if you want to eat…" Aoshi said coldly, " then I suggest you find yourself some food." He walked off toward a river he'd spotted when they were walking, where there was water there were animals and where there were animals there was food.

Lee followed him into the trees, '_He's been out here for a lot longer than I have,_' she thought, _'if I follow him I'll probably find food….and what a jerk he is! He wouldn't even give me _any_ pointers as to how to even _get_ food!_' she slinked along behind him, hiding behind trees to keep out of sight, for he looked behind himself a lot. Finally he stopped and spoke, "child, there's no need to _hide_ from me I never said you couldn't follow me to a food source." Astonished, Lee stepped out from behind a tree, "how'd you know?"

"please, you run so loudly, I could've stabbed you in the dark" he said looking over his shoulder at her, "come on you may be lucky enough to catch a fish or two."

Once they reached the river, Aoshi casually grabbed a dead branch off a tree, it had a nasty point to it. He kept walking right to the edge of the water then stopped and raised the "spear". Lee watched with curiosity, Aoshi's eyes flicked from one point to another like a cat. Then…without warning, there was a splash and the tree branch was no longer in his hand. Lee had to wait a few seconds before she realized what had happened. Aoshi grabbed the stick out of the water, revealing a fish impaled on one end.

"That was awesome!" Lee yelled from the tree line. "think so?" he said casually then walked way to another spot and got another stick. Now Lee decided she would have to try that too. She found a stick with a pretty nice point on it and walked to the edge of the water, she saw a fish stop for a moment and she threw the stick at it. Somewhere between Lee's hand and the water, the stick turned and landed sideways, scaring away all the fish.

She tried this three more times with the same results. "DAMN IT!" she yelled in frustration, once more scaring away the fish. "screw it, I give up." Lee said, throwing down the stick. She stomped away, planning to go back to the fire and toss anything that looked like a fish into it, but then she spotted a bush full of berries, "ah! That always works,"

"Are you sure those are safe to eat?" said a deep voice from behind her. Aoshi had been watching her in amusement for some time now. "only one way to find out isn't there?" Lee said, with a little more venom in her voice than she'd intended. She began to pick them off and put them in her hand one by one. "if you insist." Aoshi said nonchalantly, and walked off with the four fish he'd caught over his shoulder, still impaled on the sticks that had been their doom.

'he knows something I don't doesn't he?' Lee thought to herself as she watched him disappear into the trees. She dropped about half of the berries she picked, 'there, if they are poisonous, I'll only eat a little so I won't get sick.' Then she ran into the trees after him.

"those berries…..they ain't nearly as filling as I thought they'd be" Lee said…still starving. Aoshi shook his head, he knew the berries were safe to eat, but he really didn't think the kid would take his comment seriously. Lee laid down and her stomach growled, she muttered something about always keeping a spare pack of "prin-guls" () with her at all times from now on. Whatever "prin-guls" were. Lee's stomach growled in agony again and Aoshi caved, he tossed her one of the fish. Even though it hit her in the face she grinned and ate it like she'd had nothing else to eat for weeks. "THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!" she yelled, face full of fish. "I hate seeing children in pain, that's all." He said quietly. He laid down next to the fire and stared up at the sky, one thing had bothered him since they left Tokyo, 'why is Shishio back from the supposed dead? And what quarrel does he have with Battousai?'

"sooooooooooo" Lee said, breaking Aoshi's train of thought, "who's this 'Batto-si' person you were yelling about?" Aoshi turned to look at Lee sitting on the other side of the fire looking at him curiously, "Battosai," he began, "is the strongest swordsman in Japan. I need to defeat him" Lee cocked her head to one side, "Why're you so mad at him? He owe ya money?" Aoshi almost smiled at her last comment "No, it's nothing personal…I simply need to take his title as the strongest" He said, still staring into space, "for some friends of mine."

Now Lee was really confused, but his last sentence was so pain-filled that she decided not to press the matter…even is the man _was_ a psychotic, kidnapping, Jerk. "And you?" said his dark voice from behind the fire, "why were you hiding in the bushes of his dwelling if you aren't a friend of his?" Lee shook her head, "I don't know."

"hmm?"

"I was walking home from school when this jerk came and took my notebook, I ran after him because all the stories I wrote were in there along with my character sketches. I could see him all the way into the forest preserve but then he suddenly disappeared, It looked like he'd fallen into a hole, but I got to the place where he disappeared and only my notebook was there, I looked into the hole and there was what looked like water but it had a weird sheen to it like maybe oil was on top of it but weirder still was the fact that there weren't any ripples in it." Aoshi sat up at that point, "No ripples? Even though someone had just fallen in?" Lee shook her head, "none, so I kept on looking into it, trying to figure out what was goin' on when it started turning white and I just lost balance and fell in, next thing I know I'm hurtling out of the water into you but I wasn't even wet."

"how is that…" Aoshi started to ask but his voice trailed off and he decided not to ask. So he just shrugged and laid down again, he determined it could wait till morning, and fell asleep.

"_sooo then Aoshi, you have another companion do you? That's fine. She can most definitely prove useful. Just don't get too attatched." He opened his eyes and there he stood, the other him, a perfect replica except for those icy blue eyes. Those eyes that knew no mercy or compassion. "we all know how easily you get attached to things with short lives, you'll just end up being tortured again." That voice that occasionally whispered to him in his waking hours still sent chills down his spine. "why have you come to me again? I have no need for you, go away!" Aoshi snapped at his alter-ego, even though he knew it wouldn't obey. The world he was in now was twisted, dis-colored, and disturbingly similar to the world he now saw regularly when he was awake, the only difference was him, his dark twin with the Icy eyes, he did not appear in the waking world. Now, the world Aoshi saw when he was asleep was not always this twisted and disturbing, nor was the one he saw when he was awake. But that night at Kanryu's mansion changed everything, he'd blanked out and woke to find his inner world twisted and deformed as it was now, and slowly, the waking world grew to be just as deformed as the one in his dreams. Aoshi figured that this probably meant he was totally insane. _

"_why are you here?" Aoshi snapped at his twin, "to torment me further?" the Other Him smirked, "you always assume the worst of me, I am simply here to warn you not to get too attached to the kid, even if you get to be friends with her, you know that sooner or later she will find you revolting just like the rest of the world." Aoshi glared at Him for a bit before the Other Him grinned widely and waved to him, "just a friendly reminder, Aoshi, good bye." The Inner World slipped away and all was dark again._


	2. the bargan

Aoshi woke with a start, he let out the beginning of a scream but stopped before he woke any nearby creatures. He looked around, the world was the same as always, the animals all seemed to be staring at him with pupil-less eyes, loathing him for any reason they could find. The fire had gone out and the smoke rose but it didn't quite drift right, it twisted and curled and formed faces that scrutinized him before they faded. He looked at the sun that had grown to look more like a black hole than the source of light. But _He_ wasn't there, so that meant he was most definitely awake. "Another day in hell then…"

Aoshi flopped back down and tried to slow his breath. He looked around for the kid and couldn't find her. "so she decided to take her chances with the wilderness to escape huh? Not too smart, that kid" he said to himself, "then again, the forest probably isn't really as frightening as I see it" . He sighed and finally got his breathing under control. 'back to a one-man army I suppose' he thought to himself. No sooner had he thought this, that Lee burst through a small patch of twisted, blackened bushes with two small fish impaled on sticks, seeing that he was awake she smiled and said, "good morning! I just barely caught breakfast!"

Now Aoshi was confused, "why did you-?" Lee cut him off before he could finish, " 'Cause after yesterday when those damned things kept on moving I decided I'd get up real early and get 'em when they're half asleep!" she announced proudly, "And I got ya too didn't I ya little scum suckin'…" Aoshi sat up and took a close look at the two small fish Lee was now insulting rather vigorously. He noticed that both had claw marks on their sides. "Lee…" he interrupted her string of insults to the fish's mother, "you didn't catch those fish did you?" she hung her head sadly, "no, they were already dead on the beach. How'd you know?"

"I can see the claw marks on their sides."

"Ah." Lee said examining the fishes' flanks. "no matter," Aoshi said, taking the fish from her, "they're still good to eat"

Aoshi looked at the fish in the fire. Through the faces that materialized and de-materialized in the fire he could see The one burning eye that never wavered from looking at him…accusing him for any little thing he did… "I hate fish." Aoshi said darkly, "no matter where you go they are always watching you." Lee cocked an eyebrow, this was a rather random comment from such a seemingly dark and serious person. She looked down at the fish in the fire and locked eyes with it, she leaned to one side, then to the other, "I'll be damned." She whispered to herself "know what?" she said to Aoshi, "I'm not feeling real hungry anymore." Aoshi looked at his own fish and then tossed it in the fire; a particularly ugly face materialized and devoured it. "Nor am I." Lee did the same. No sooner had her fish gone up in flames did her stomach begin to complain. "grrrrrrrrr-RRRRRRRR there has to be _something_ in that bag of mine that doesn't look at you while you eat it!" she sat up and began to quickly dig through her bag. Aoshi had never really wondered what she kept in that bag before but now he was curious. "what's in that bag anyway?" Lee looked up, "oh, this thing? Crap mostly. But occasionally, I will find something useful liiiiiike, OLD, HALF-EATEN LUNCHES!"

"Hmm?"

"FOOD!" she beamed holding up a brown paper bag and dumping it's contents out on the dead ground in front of her, there wasn't much, a few cookies in a bag and a moldy pb&j sandwich. "well, the sandwich is out of the question, judging by the rate it is mutating into a peanut-butter monster of the lake…" Lee made a feeble attempt at a joke, apparently to no avail for Aoshi's expression never changed. She took about three cookies out of the bag and began to eat them.

Aoshi sighed and laid down. He wasn't really hungry due to the fact that his stomach had probably shrunken a great deal while he was in the mountains. He could go days on only one meal if he really needed to.

"oi! Scary! Catch!"

He looked up in time to see a bag of cookies come hurtling towards his face, which he caught with ease, he turned to look at the girl who had thrown them to him, slightly puzzled, "it's payback for the fish yesterday" Lee said smiling. He shrugged and ate them without saying a word. 'geez he is a jerk,' Lee thought to herself, 'didn't even say thanks, or _nothing_'

After a while Aoshi stood. "we should go," he said, "before the sun gets too high." Heat didn't bother him much but the girl's body would wear out quickly in the midday sun. So he put out the fire, and headed back towards the stream. Lee grabbed her bag wearily and trudged along behind him.

For a good three hours they followed the stream in silence….that was around the time Lee came to realize something….being kidnapped was really boring. The only noise was from the stream. Finally, she couldn't take it any more and broke the silence, "ya know? Whatever happened to the exciting kidnapping stories, full of terror and threats to the kid's life, and savage animals….and the hot hero who comes in and beats the bad guy bloody!" Aoshi looked at her for a moment then shrugged and continued walking.

"AND AFTER ALL THAT ALL YOU DO IS SHRUG!" Lee yelled angrily after him. He sighed, "look, child, now that I know you have no connection with Battosai I don't have that much of a grudge against you." Lee looked even more put out now, "THEN WHY ARE YOU MAKING _ME_ CARRY _YOUR_ JUNK!" she yelled at him, waving the sheathed swords in the air. "_That_," he said turning around and bending so he could get in her face, "is for hitting me where no man deserves to be hit!" he glared at her for a moment longer, then stood up straight, and continued walking.

They trudged along without a word for a while longer…then Aoshi got bored. "what is in that bag really? It must've been hard if it knocked you out." He said curiously. "oh," Lee said, "it was probably the laptop."

"the what?"

"my Laptop," she repeated and pulled a square, black box out of her bag. The top was polished and smooth, like blackened glass, but faint gold lines separated the surface into squares. It was shallow in height, maybe half an inch. On one side it had many holes, outlined in bright colors with pictures and symbols next to them that Aoshi didn't understand. He had never seen such a thing before, but Lee spoke of it as though it were an everyday thing. "what in hell…" he said stopping to gawk at the strange object. Lee sat down on the ground with it and began to do something to it, Aoshi didn't know what. He kneeled down to get a closer look at it. "what? You can't tell me you've never seen one before." Lee said to him over her shoulder, smiling. She pushed two levers out to the sides and lifted, the top swung up like a trap door. The inside was filled with buttons. Lee pressed one and the one side that was smooth was dark for a moment then the box began to make a noise, it sounded like the wind whistling but more dull, more like…an intake of breath. '_this thing is breathing_' Aoshi realized. Another noise came from it, a "_beep"_ that sounded almost too perfect, it was unnatural, no living being could make that noise. The thing began to suck more air and it groaned in more than one tone, all of them were, again, unnatural sounding. The thing was waking up. Then the back of it suddenly lit with a blue light. Worse, it _was_ awake. A large red and black vortex appeared on the once blue back of the thing. It's great red eye never blinking and always glowing. "It's…a demon" he said incredulously. What else could it be? He began to back away from it…"it…it shouldn't be…"

"oh calm down," Lee said laughingly, "I use it to communicate with my friends." She touched one spot clear of buttons and a small white arrow appeared on the creature's flat eye. When her finger moved along the patch the arrow followed the same path. She moved it to the bottom of the eye and a small blue bar popped up. She moved the arrow to a oval at the end of it and pressed a nearby button. A menu popped up along with it. Lee repeated this, every time she pressed that button while the arrow was over it a menu popped up until one covered the eye entirely. "Let's see if I have any mail" Lee said. She looked over her shoulder at the now dumbstruck Aoshi. His mouth had dropped open so much it nearly touched the ground. "You have no idea what's going on do you?" he shook his head slowly. Lee explained how the internet and the mouse worked and how you could write and send letters to people via cyberspace.

Incredibly, he got it… for the most part. A computer was a demon that worked for humans as an assistant and they were all telepathically connected by a system called, "internet" they could tell the messages to other "computers" and those computers would tell their master. But what would they do to someone who wasn't their master? His thoughts were interrupted by Lee, "what in…"

Aoshi looked over her shoulder, the message was in English symbols he couldn't read.

She read it out loud, "It's from one of my really close friends, Jeannie, she wrote,

'_Lee,_

_where have you been? I heard that you and Mitch had gone missing from some kid at school, please E-mail me back if you get this, some weird things have been happening. It was all over the news, in case you haven't heard, they found a frozen body in the Himalayas, ya know, an ice mummy, they thawed it out and found that it was wearing denim, and had a watch on it's wrist…according to the carbon dates, it died around 200 B.C. plus, they say it didn't even die from the cold, it's neck was broken, along with most of it's other bones, like it had fallen from a great distance, but there was nothing that could have dropped him from that high back then. Planes weren't invented till loooooooong after that. Weirder still, it had the exact same necklace Mitch had, Y'know, that cheesy silver one he's always bragging about 'cuz it's "custom made" , the hawk that spreads it's wings to make a cross, that one. It's too advanced and symmetrical to be made by hand. His parents wanted to claim ownership of their lost, now dead, son. But the government is still insisting that he isn't Mitch, his mom wanted to see if the DNA off his first tooth matched the ice mummy's. And the bastards won't help that poor woman find her son just because it would prove that they don't have answers. None of us know how the carbon dating may have screwed up but…it must've somehow._

_Please, send me a reply if you get this._

_Jeannie'"_

Lee stared at the screen for a while longer, "Mitch…" she said, her voice cracked and she hung her head and began to quiver. "he-he was annoying but…I didn't want him to…" she hugged her knees and hid her face. She looked up to look at the E-mail again but a hand closed the lid. "we'll stay here tonight." came a gentle voice. Lee looked up from her now tear-stained knees. She was slightly surprised to see that it belonged to Aoshi.

She didn't eat. Even though he'd offered her some food, she shook her head and looked away. "who was he? Friend? Sibling?" Aoshi asked. She shook her head, "Ex-boyfriend, he was the one who stole my notebook that day. He was mad because I was going to take the lead role in the play, even though I had to perform a stage kiss with some kid he didn't like. I wanted him to die then…I was so mad…I just…never expected it to happen…" she looked down again, hiding her face with her hair. "I thought…maybe…he was close by where I came out and…and he'd follow me so we could find a way home…somehow."

"don't blame yourself for what you haven't done. It won't do you or his soul any good and it won't bring him back." He said softly, staring into the eyes of a passing face in the fire. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" Lee yelled form the other side of the fire, "DON'T YOU PREACH TO ME! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS? WHO'S EVER DIED ON YOU HUH?" She glared at him angrily. He said nothing, just continued to stare into the fire. "I know more pain than you probably ever will." He said quietly. He glared darkly at one face in the flame that laughed at him now.

After a long time of being lost in thought, Aoshi turned away from the fire and lay down. He looked at the sky but no longer wanted to look at the twisted moon and stars and turned his head and saw that lee had cried herself to sleep. 'poor kid,' he thought to himself. The night had gotten cold and the child shivered in her sleep. The cold never bothered him, he always felt a death chill, he'd gotten used to it. But Lee would get sick. Without really thinking, he took off the trench coat he always wore and covered her with it. He then lay down with his head against a log and slept.

_"It would appear that she hit a nerve didn't she, My twin? Why wasn't she punished like anyone else?" that voice that sent chills through the body, it could only be one person… "Why do insist upon torturing me?" Aoshi asked his dark reflection who was now standing over him, looking down in contempt. "you've become attached, Aoshi." _

" _I have not, you have taken that ability from me." He said glaring at his twin yet also his opposite. "no, I haven't, I simply made you realize that it wasn't worth the pain." The Other Him said, grinning wide, flashing his wickedly pointed teeth. "if the kid got sick she'd be of no use to me…that's the only reason I gave her my coat." Aoshi said looking at the ground. "oh how badly you lie, brother." The Other Him said, kneeling down next to him. "remember that I know every little thought you have, no matter how private you think it is." Aoshi glared at this, "I thought nothing of the sort, it must have been you." The Other Him laughed, "right, I'll tell you what, I'll make you a little bet,"_

"_fine, I'll accept." Aoshi said, a challenge was evident in his voice._

_The Other Him's icy eyes flashed with malice, "you resist the girl for a month and I'll only appear when you call me. Fail though, and I take total control of your body, and you become the alter-ego." _

"_resist? What do you-"_

_His lips pulled back again to reveal those pointed teeth again, "it doesn't matter, you have just sold you soul to Ihsoa." The inner world began to slip away again. And before Aoshi could question any further, his vision went black._

Aoshi only woke because he felt something move on his chest. He groggily looked for the source of the disturbance to find a sleeping Lee. Her head was on his chest and one arm was around his neck. He jumped a little at the sight, thinking maybe he was seeing things he shook his head, but no, she was really there. The coat was now covering the both of them. Lee began to move. He probably woke her up when he jumped. She sleepily nuzzled her face into his chest. Aoshi could feel his face getting red and his heart begin to beat at 150 mph. she finially looked up and saw who she was laying on.

It took a moment for both of them to register what was going on. In that moment Aoshi realized something; sometime during the night, he had wrapped his arms around her waist and they were still there. Plus, the bottom of her jacket had ridden up and his hands touched her warm flesh. Both of them quickly released the other and rolled away from them. "What were you doing!" Lee demanded as she clutched at her heart, trying to make it slow down. "I could ask you the very same question!" he yelled back.

She looked like she was going to argue but then went quiet, "last night, I woke up and saw that you'd given me the coat so I got up to thank you and accidentally touched your hand…you were freezing so I decided we could both use it…THEN YOU TAKE IT IN THE TOTALLY WRONG DIRECTION!"

"I TOOK IT IN THE WRONG DIRECTION! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LAYED ON MY CHEST DURING THE NIGHT!"

"NO, YOU PUT ME THERE! YOUR ARMS WERE STILL AROUND ME WHEN I WOKE UP!"

"IT'S A NATURAL REACTION TO HOLD SOMETHING THAT IS PUT IN YOUR ARMS WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING!"

This went on for quite a while before they came to the agreement that it was just coincidence and neither of them willed it (in the back of their heads they each knew this wasn't true) and they packed up and left.

After a while Lee said, "still though, thank you for giving me the coat."

"It was nothing." Aoshi said quietly. He touched the place on his chest where her head had been, it was still warm for some reason. The death chill that usually permeated his body to the bone was gone in the spots where she had touched him. He looked down at her and noticed something that he hadn't before, the area around her didn't seem as dead as it usually was…she made the grass under her feet seem alive again, and for the first time in a long time Aoshi swore he saw the world in daylight…

woot! I got chapter # 2 dooone Finally! I'd like to thank my one and only reviewer (as of august 20 2005) for reading my little story

yours truly,

aoshionspeed1317


	3. Jack

Ch: 3

"We're coming up on a town here," Aoshi said around midday. "we should wait until nightfall to enter it" they were coming up on a town called Kuwana it wasn't too far from Kyoto and only so happened to be near the river they were following. "Why wait until dark?" Lee asked as they came to a stop in a nearby clearing. "Easier to steal stuff that way." He answered offhandedly. "STEAL?" Lee yelled.

"Yes, steal, how else are we supposed to get supplies? Neither of us have money." Aoshi said in a "no duh" sort of tone, "but for now, we'll rest here."

Lee pulled out the Laptop she had now declared to be called "Betty" she figured she needed to call it by some name when she got mad at it or needed to coax it into working. To Aoshi the thing had a slightly longer title, "Betty the Evil Computer Demon" he had finally decided that the thing was loyal only to It's master, and like all demons would attack anyone else. Lee clacked at the thing for a while then Aoshi began to hear a human voice coming from it, singing,

"you're slipping in and out of time

who are you to decide

which one of us winds up broken for a lifetime

and so you'll never be satisfied

until one of us falls apart,

I've had enough of this

and these are the faces"

(Faces, by Orgy)

The voice sounded angry and whatever music was being played in the background was not known to him. But he liked it. It was different. And yet….how? How could it do this?

The expression on Aoshi's face obviously gave him away. Because Lee turned to him and said, "I don't quite know how it works either but I assure you, this is just a recording, the real people are living their own lives. Betty is not keeping human souls captive." He blinked for a moment then shrugged and went to lay against a tree, he decided not to Question Betty The Evil Computer Demon further…it may get angry. Lee then began to sing along to the song in a muted voice, whispering instead of screaming like the performers. She opened another window and began to write a message to Jeanie,

_'I am all right but I have gone "missing". If I told you what happened…you wouldn't believe me anyway. To put it in simple terms I don't know where I am but this area seems to think it's in the 1870's, Japan. I'm not alone though, There's this guy with me. He's…'_ Lee looked over at Aoshi who had now climbed into a tree and was sleeping on a branch with one arm dangling off the side like a panther or a feral cat., _'Eccentric….to say the least. I don't know where I've seen him before but he looks oddly familiar. Whatever, but I just sent this to you so you know I'm all right._

_-Lee'_

She sent the letter and closed the lid on the laptop. She sighed, why wasn't she more lonely? '_well it's not like you're totally alone…_' a voice in her head said, she looked into the tree at Aoshi. What kind of relationship did they have? They weren't hostile towards each other. Though, they couldn't be friends while he was her kidnapper. Sooooooo….why didn't she hate him? And why did she not want to get up when she'd woken up on his chest (even if it was for a split second)

Aoshi opened one eye and looked down at her, "what?" he got no answer because a cry of pain came over the trees. They both sat bolt upright and snapped their heads in the direction the scream came from. Aoshi could hear it, the growl and snarls of wolves…in one swift movement he jumped down from the tree and grabbed the dual Kodachi and ran in the direction of the sound. It took a few seconds for Lee to realize that he'd left but she still chased after him, she simply followed the noise because there was no way she could match his speed.

Sure enough, Aoshi came across a huge mass of wolves swarming and attacking someone in the middle of them all. A human life was not ment to wasted on wolves. He drew the swords and charged the mass of hair and teeth. The second he hit one the others all stopped biting at their victim and attacked at once. Aoshi unleashed his newly learned attack, the Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren, and it hit a few wolves sure enough. Three of them ran away but that was all. The better part of the pack kept coming. One latched onto his shoulder but he knocked it off with the hilt of his sword. The blunt edge came in contact with one's jaw, it ran away. The one that had bitten his shoulder now lunged at his face. He got a glimpse of the wolf's eyes. They were a strangely familiar icy blue. He was able to block it but now both arms were occupied and more attacked his now exposed flanks. He kicked one in the jaw and knocked it unconscious. He finially flung the one with icy eyes off. As it flew through the air in an unnatural arc, he swore he saw it smile maliciously, as though it knew something he didn't. It landed on it's chin with it's back arced over it's head. Though it's neck was almost undoubtedly broken, and blood trickled out of it's mouth and nose, it's lips were pulled back in a mocking grin. Aoshi didn't have time to think on this though, because more wolves were swarming him now. He couldn't fight like this, they were everywhere. He jumped over them and rebounded off a tree in the opposite direction. He had managed to get free for a split second and seized the opportunity. He began to move around the pack, mixing slow and fast movements so there was no way of telling where he was or where he was going to be. A few lunged and missed but soon they all got confused. They all huddled into a circle facing out. He stopped the movement and attacked hitting most of them at one time. The wounded fell unconscious the others ran into the trees. He stood for a moment panting and bloodied, then straightened up and heard, "that was awesome."

Aoshi turned to see Lee standing partly behind a tree. She timidly came out and approached him. He figured he looked even more scary than usual now, bloody and cut up. "damn man," she said looking at the nasty wound on his shoulder, "you got shredded…" Aoshi shook his head, "it's nothing," he turned to see if the person who had been attacked was alive. It seemed that they were wearing a massive fur coat that was now bloodstained, "hey, are you all right?" he called to them, they didn't move. He slowly approached them and kneeled down. It was then he saw that the coat was not a coat at all but an actual wolf/dog mutt….he had just risked life and limb…for a mutt….damn. The tail began to twitch and the mutt looked up at him and gave him a happy little smile. "don't you play cute with me, dog. Imitating a human voice like that," he stood and looked at the dog angrily. Lee, on the other hand, sat down and began petting it lovingly, "crafty Bitch aint'cha?" the dog's tail wagged harder at the attention. "don't do that, it'll get attatched to us and never leave." Lee continued rubbing the mutt's flanks, "I wouldn't mind, I like her." He crossed his arms and flinched at the pain from the multiple wounds. Lee reached up to touch his arm where a stray claw had ripped through his flesh, "you're gonna need someone to sew that up-"

"the coat or me?"

Lee laughed and shook her head, "you, ya Idiot! You're a bit more important…" at that, Aoshi's eyes softened and the corners of his mouth twitched in an attempt to do something the muscles weren't used to. He opened his mouth to say something but something moved before he could. That wolf with the blue eyes was standing, grinning, and stalking around him and Lee. Lee's eyes widened at the sight of it and she grabbed Aoshi's sleeve in fear. She saw it too, he wasn't seeing things.

How was it still alive? Nothing could've survived the angle it fell at, it's neck would've snapped. It moved unnaturally. It's limbs locked in odd positions which gave it an odd, stiffly, lumbering walk. Blood still trickled down it's chin and an odd swell was growing on it's neck. The wolf circled them, baring it's bloody teeth in a menacing grin. A gurgling snarl came from it's throat sounding more like a laugh than anything else. It stopped for a moment and looked at them. It's eyes moved to Lee and made eye contact it grinned wider than it's lips were meant to and it's icy eyes flashed, '_the girl'_ is what it sounded like it said…it lunged without warning and flew through the air as though carried by something other than it's own momentum. It's teeth dripped with a mixture of blood and saliva and it's lips cracked and split. Aoshi brought his arm back to swing but a reddish-brown mass hit the malicious wolf first.

The Mutt, who had been behind them before, had sprung and hit the other Wolf full-force in it's already injured neck. But she didn't stop there, she continued biting at it's legs and ripped at it's flesh until it had struggled free and they paused in a stand-off. The wolf's head dangled at an unnatural angle. And though it's flesh was totally gone in places, the blood only came in a slow ooze. It's eyes were unfocused and unblinking. It's mouth was slightly open and it's tongue dangled freely. It was no longer explainable; this thing should be dead…why wasn't it? Then the thing turned tail and left, but not before letting out a low growl that, to Aoshi, sounded like, _'well done, my twin'_

The mutt watched the unnatural being go for a while then turned to her rescuers and wagged her tail, hoping for praise. The little one came right over and scratched behind her ears lovingly saying something in their weird human speech. The Unnatural One had only come that day to the once peaceful forest. By noon he had already turned an entire pack against one another. True she was always an outcast due to being part domesticated, but they had never been directly hostile to her. But now most of them lay defeated or worse because of these two humans. So the Mutt decided she liked them.

The tall one barked something at the pup. The little one turned and retaliated….

"well it's not like we're just going to leave her like this!" Lee yelled back at Aoshi, "honestly, she just saved our lives, we owe her." she added smileing back at the Mutt. "It does not serve any purpose for us." Aoshi shot back at the child.

"bet'cha I could train her to fight for us." Lee said looking into the dog's eyes, "she seems pretty smart." Aoshi was silent for a moment and Lee and the Mutt looked at him pleadingly. He sighed, "you have half a week while we're here in town, if you succeed to teach the beast one attack you can keep it." He figured that was impossible enough task.

"Jack" that was the new human word for the Mutt. "but it's a female, Lee." Aoshi said when he heard this. "I don't care," Lee said angrily, "she's my dog, and I have named her Jack." He shook his head and resumed his position in the tree. There was no way she was going to teach that mutt how to attack in a half a week, especially when she was starting from scratch. He drifted off to sleep. Lee looked in contempt at the man in the tree. He was wounded but wouldn't go into town for treatment due to lack of funds…stubborn ass. "c'mon Jack, come here. Come here, girl" She said to the dog, patting the ground. The dog cocked her head then obeyed. Astonished, Lee vigorously rubbed Jack's sides, "good girl, jack!" this was a very smart dog. Teaching her an attack would be no problem. But first the basics…

_"I tried to do you a favor, brother." The voice said to him, he now knew who the wolf in the forest had been. "you bastard, that was totally unnecessary, you are crossing over, into the one world I thought I could be rid of you. You almost killed someone." Aoshi told the twin that had now grown more twisted than ever. Ihsoa, (ihs-O-uh)he had been the wolf that tried to kill Lee. "you are better off without the kid," Ihsoa said, crossing his arms, " she is distracting you." Aoshi Got angry, "nobody has distracted me from anything!" his twin smiled and sighed, "poor foolish child, I don't know why I even try to help you, it's better for me this way anyway." He walked backwards off a branch and two black wings shot from his back and caught the wind. "you can't win against me, brother." Aoshi stared in amazement at the pitch black wings that had bright blue veins, like ice ran in his veins, not blood. "ta" and the inner world slipped away and Aoshi heard voices from far away…_

"oh Aoshi-san!" Lee called, he looked down to the girl, it was night now and he figured almost time to go. "thought I'd tell ya! She has learned all the basic commands in the span of a few hours, YOU'RE SCREWED!" he groggily rolled off the branch and landed on all-fours, "let's go, Lee. It's dark enough." He tossed the sheathed swords to her and walked off. "stay" Lee said to Jack before following him. The dog obeyed and sat down to wait for Lee's return.

Aoshi promised that if Lee got caught with the swords that he would bail her out somehow. "what if they don't buy it?" she asked nervously. "then I'll just cause an even bigger scene while you escape, then I'll follow you. There's no way they can catch me" he said. They split up once there, acting as though they did not know each other. Aoshi silently came into a few storehouse windows and stole some food and bandages for the wounds from the wolves. He continued until he heard a police whistle. He ran towards the noise.

It was incredible how large the crowd was, considering the time of night. **_"What are you doing out here with a sword? Little girl?"_** the Officer said to Lee, who was now cornered against a wall and was frightened. She couldn't understand them, so said nothing, **_"answer!"_** he yelled as he pulled out his own sword. Aoshi knew who these guys were, the sword corps. They were police officers who were permitted to carry swords around. They were almost never good news. The leader advanced on Lee looking at her with rage, **_"how dare you not answer me!"_** suddenly he looked calm again…a sly grin spread across his face, **_"this could be counted as an obstruction of justice…I think the kid needs to be taught some justice…what do you guys think?"_** he added looking to his comrades they all smiled and also drew their swords. A woman with long black hair in a doctor's kimono pushed through the crowd to try to pull the leader back and shouted, **_"This is wrong! She's just a child!"_** he got annoyed and threw her to the ground. Aoshi began to think of a good story but nothing would come. "please…someone…help me" Lee said pleadingly. "She's trying to confuse us! Now she really has to pay." They all began to advance on her. There wasn't any time left to think. Aoshi jumped in their way and kneeled so low that his face nearly touched the ground. He said the first thing that popped into his head, **_"please excuse my baka sister."_** They all stopped, confused. **_"my sister,"_** Aoshi continued, still saying anything that popped into his mind, **_"she isn't right in the head, she doesn't quite know what she's doing or how the world works or even what you're asking her…so please don't hold her accountable, I'm taking her home right now and I'll see that my grandfather's swords are better hidden."_** He looked up with one eye to see if they'd buy it. They did. The leader sheathed his sword and the other's followed suit. He then walked away with his goons close behind. Aoshi and Lee sighed in relief then they got up and left.

Meanwhile the woman on the ground tried to see over the crowd at the brother who had saved the girl. She could've sworn she'd heard his voice before, but where? She shrugged and continued walking to the medicine dealer she had meant to see before she was distracted.

As soon as they were outside the city, Lee turned to Aoshi, "ummmmm, what did you say to them back there? To make them back off so fast?" something of an evil smirk spread across his face, "I told them you were my retard sister."

"WHAT!"

"HEY! It made them back off didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Lee said begrudgingly. She was quiet for a moment then said, "thanks."

"No problem" Aoshi said softly. He looked at her and realized that the trees near her didn't seem as twisted and the animals were less menacing. The ground she walked on seemed to grow more alive when she trod over it. He shook his head, not that again.

When they returned to the fire site, Jack sat in the exact same spot that they had left her. "GOOD GIRL, JACK!" Lee said running over to the dog and rubbing it's sides. Aoshi flopped down beside a tree and pulled out some food he'd stolen that night. He tossed some of it to Lee then ate some himself. Jack came up to him and laid her head on his knee hopefully. He sighed and gave the dog some rice-balls. The dog ate them happily and then laid on his lap. "get off dog!" he yelled but Jack didn't budge. So he picked her up under the armpit and lifted her off. He staired into the faces in the fire. They were less distinct now and looked less menacing. Did that also have something to do with Lee? He shrugged and slouched down against the tree. "Hey Lee, you said you wanted to learn Japaneese?" she nodded in response. "I guess I'll start with the basic nouns then…"

At that moment, a passing spider, who wouldn't have stopped otherwise, caught the smell of food and turned toward Aoshi and climbed up his sleeve. This was a particularly small spider, but also particularly venomous. The spider hit a dead end at around the collarbone, but as it turned back Aoshi shifted, and a piece of cloth now trapped the spider and it panicked. And (like all spiders) it bit anything in sight when panicked. It hit flesh and the arm went straight out of shock. The spider scuttled out and ran off.

"what was that?" Aoshi asked, rubbing his collarbone, where the spider had bit. It hurt like hell. It burned like acid and was slowly spreading. "Are you all right?" Lee asked. His eyes kept on slipping in and out of focus. And Lee was beginning to sound very far away. The faces in the fire grew clearer. They grew limbs and reached for Lee and himself. Jack sniffed at him and backed away whimpering. The pain had spread around his shoulder and partly up his neck. He propped himself up and took off his shirt to look at the wound. It was an odd shade of green and HUGE. Under his skin, is veins ware visable and an unpleasant purple. And it was spreading. Lee saw it shoot up the left jugular vein. Aoshi went stiff and his pupils shrank to pinpricks. Lee panicked and said quickly, "stay here, I'm going to get help." Then she ran off to town as fast as her legs would carry her. "Lee…" Aoshi croaked feebly. His vision was growing darker but he could see that the light was fading the farther away Lee ran. He reached out to her but wasn't anywhere near reaching her. He felt alone again. It was only him and the faces in the fire… "Lee…don't…leave…" then he lost all consciousness and slipped into darkness.


	4. Venom

Aoshionspeed1317: Chapter 4! Can you believe it? My little story has 4 chapters already! Woo-hoo!

Aoshi: yah….what's with you naming yourself after me? YOU'RE A BLONDE, HYPER, LITTLE GIRL! WE ARE NOTHING ALIKE!

Aoshionspeed1317: dude…note the "on speed"-ness and the "1317"-ness the names _are_ different.

Aoshi: and why am I the one who gets bitten by deadly spiders that nobody's heard about?

Aoshionspeed1317: …eerrrrrrrmmm….Idono

Lee:……..( . ) ( . )WOO! ()

NOW THEN! To recap,

"what was that?" Aoshi asked, rubbing his collarbone, where the spider had bit. It hurt like hell. It burned like acid and was slowly spreading. "Are you all right?" Lee asked. His eyes kept on slipping in and out of focus. And Lee was beginning to sound very far away. The faces in the fire grew clearer. They grew limbs and reached for Lee and himself. Jack sniffed at him and backed away whimpering. The pain had spread around his shoulder and partly up his neck. He propped himself up and took off his shirt to look at the wound. It was an odd shade of green and HUGE. Under his skin, his veins ware visable and an unpleasant purple. And it was spreading. Lee saw it shoot up the left jugular vein. Aoshi went stiff and his pupils shrank to pinpricks. Lee panicked and said quickly, "stay here, I'm going to get help." Then she ran off to town as fast as her legs would carry her. "Lee…" Aoshi croaked feebly. His vision was growing darker but he could see that the light was fading the farther away Lee ran. He reached out to her but wasn't anywhere near reaching her. He felt alone again. It was only him and the faces in the fire… "Lee…don't…leave…" then he lost all consciousness and slipped into darkness.

Lee ran as fast as she could through the forest. Someone had to have an antidote to whatever was happening to Aoshi. She came to the town that was now deserted. She desperately looked for someone that could help but saw nobody. She checked down the alley she thought there was a doctor's office, nothing.

The wall where the cops had caught her, deserted.

The row houses, nobody.

Finially she rounded a corner and saw the woman that had tried to stick up for her against the cops. She was carrying a medicine bag, and waving to a shop owner. Lee ran to her.

"arigatou" the woman said to the shopkeeper. Lee only knew a few words in japaneese that she'd just learned but she tried anyway. "**_please, miss, … friend is…ill…need help." _**Lee knew she sounded stupid but tried anyway. The woman nodded and motioned for her to lead the way. Lee smiled and ran off into the forest.

The woman decided to follow the child A) because someone was in trouble.

B) the kid was cute,

And C) now she could find out if she knew that guy or not.

They reached the clearing to see that the fire had nearly gone out and that Aoshi was nowhere to be seen. Lee called to him and was answered with a growl from behind her. She turned and saw that he was there but in much worse shape than she'd left him in. his hair fell in his face but his eyes glowed from beneath it. They were an odd turquoise color. he bared his teeth like a rabid dog and growled. She now saw that the purple had spread, covering half his body and face in an intricate design where his veins had all turned a deep purple and shone through his pale skin. His body didn't seem to be able to hold itself very well. And he panted like some kind of feral beast. **_"Who are you?"_** he growled in his native tongue.

He didn't recognize Lee. Or the doctor woman either for that matter. All he knew was what the poison had programmed into his brain, people meant pain. They were to be feared. Lee looked hurt and also slightly scared. She slowly walked to him. She now noticed the five large gashes across his chest and his bloody fingernails. His eyes widened and he backed away as she got closer. Soon he hit a tree, he had nowhere to go and became even more frightened. He looked more and more like a frightened animal.

Jack still cowered back in the shadows. The tall one didn't smell right. There was something desperately wrong with him. He smelled like the unnatural wolf did. Dead, alive by some force other than nature. Yet his usual scent was there too, just, not totally in control. What was happening? Why did the tall one have two scents? And…why the HELL WAS THE PUP TRYING TO APPROACH HIM!

The demon kept getting closer. It was a small one but it was evil nonetheless. He had nowhere to go. And something had impared the ability to think and walk straight. It was then Aoshi decided his new least favorite animal was spiders, fish weren't that bad anymore. "It's all right, nobody's going to hurt you." The thing said soothingly. It sounded like Lee. No. the thing was screwing with his head. There was no way it could be her. It looked worried and touched his face, where the venom had turned the veins purple. Her face became clearer. Was it Lee? If it was an illusion, it was a lot more pleasant than reality. Despite the voice in his head telling him not to trust her, he let himself relax. "Lee?" he asked quietly. His body couldn't last any longer and he dropped to his knees. Then back against the tree.

The doctor woman took this opportunity and walked over and examined the wound. The second the woman entered his view he tried to stand again only to fall on his ass.

"keep him still!" she yelled to Lee.

"YOU SPEAK ENGLISH!"

"of course! I'm a doctor! I have to be able to speak any language! Now hold him still before I take out the tiger tranquilizers."

(O.O) Lee obeyed. And tried to tell him to keep still but he didn't seem to comprehend much. So, instead, she grabbed his hand and held it like a mother does for a child getting stitches, (though Aoshi hardly looked like a child) incredibly he seemed to calm down. The other arm was covered in the purple, veiny, design and seemed to be paralyzed so the doctor was in no danger. The doctor muttered to herself then said, "the 8-ball spider."

"the what?"

"the 8-Ball spider," She repeated "extremely small but also very dangerous."

"like in pool, get the 8-ball and you automatically loose." Lee said to herself

"not really, it's antidode is extremely cheap and simple, but the venom is fast-acting, I have to work quickly, before all the veins turn purple. And he dies" the doctor said gravely. First she pulled out a pair of tweezers and plucked at the now dark green welt . she obviously got what she ment to for Aoshi yelled some word Lee didn't know.

"my, my, what a foul mouth we have." The doctor said.

"what was that?" Lee said, trying to ignore the fact that her hand was being crushed. (who'dve thought somebody half dead would still have enough strength to do so much damage)

"the fangs, they're built like bee stings, except that they grow back in the spider's mouth"

She pulled out a bottle and filled a needle with the contents. Lee looked away, she hated needles like Aoshi hated fish. He really didn't seem to notice the needle nearly as much as Lee did. She looked back at him and saw that he had passed out. still she held his hand.

"all right, the worst part is over, now we just have to bind up that wound on his chest, though it probably saved his life." The doctor said pulling out a roll of bandages from her bag.

"huh? How?" Lee asked.

"note that the purple color, that's the venom, doesn't pass the cut. It drains out, keeping it from spreading. But now we need to keep him from bleeding to death." She said pulling a small container from the bag, "my family's medicine, it stops the bleeding."

Lee looked down at Aoshi. He looked…remotely peaceful…or at least less feral. She pushed his hair out of his face and could see the purple receding back.

"by the way, what's your name?" Lee asked the woman as she applied the medicine.

"Megumi, Megumi Takani."

Megumi looked up and smiled at the girl then looked at the man. She gasped and fell back as her memories suddenly came flying back. Kanryu and the Oniwaban that had tortured her nightmares. "It's…it's…him"

Lee looked confused.

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHO THIS MAN IS!" Megumi yelled at her.

"errrm…Aoshi Shinomori?" Lee said questioningly, "do you know him?" she looked back at him, what had he done to deserve such a reaction?

"yes, he was nearly the cause of my DEATH!" Megumi said venomously, "or did he decide to leave that part of his story out?"

Lee was confused. At first she'd have believed this, but now…he seemed too gentle to do something like that. He was serious and scary but gentle anyway.

Megumi saw the confused look and began to explain, "he was once the Okashira, or leader of a small army called the Oniwaban…"

_He was falling into blackness but the inner world didn't appear this time. he was floating in space, "why did you FIGHT ME?" an icy voice drifted from the darkness. "we could have been rid of that distraction, brother!" Ishoa came into view. Aoshi couldn't move but whatever he thought was heard aloud. "she is no distraction, why did you try to make me think she was a demon?" _

"_because she is!" Ishoa yelled, "she has distracted you from your goal!"_

_Aoshi doubted this until,_

"_WHERE ARE YOU GOING AND WHY?" _

_Aoshi blinked…and was surprised to find that he did have to think for a moment before he got the answer. "YOU HAVE BEEN DISTRACTED! DOES THAT GIRL MEAN MORE TO YOU THAN HAN'NYA AND THE OTHERS?"_

_That hit home. The mere suggestion had stricken Aoshi speechless. The oniwaban who had died…he needed to bring them glory, he couldn't be distracted…and yet…_

"_they were my friends, and they never wanted to kill more than needed…they don't want this…" he had come to a realization. The only one he was doing this for was Ishoa._

"_you are the only one who benefits from this." he said, getting angry. Ishoa glared at him, "face it, brother. You need me as much as I need you. Without me you would be nobody. Just an out-dated deadbeat. You need the urge to kill, to fight, to shed blood. You are good for fighting and nothing else."_

_With quite some effort, Aoshi rose and stared his alter-ego in the face, "anything you say, cannot be trusted."_

_Ishoa got angry, " From now on, we are enemies."_

"_we always were"_

_Aoshi could feel himself falling again._

"_know this, brother. When you loose this bet, the girl is to be the first kill in my rein of bloodshed!"_

_Ishoa faded away and Aoshi slept._

Megumi finished her story as the sun began to rise. Lee sat in shock. No wonder he never smiled, every single one…murdered by their employer. It used to be bigger, that army he had, but every one left except for those four, Beshimi, Hyottoko, Shikijo, and Han'nya. Since then he'd vowed to kill this Kenshin Himura in order to gain honor for them. She Looked down at Aoshi again. She noticed the multiple battle scars he had all over, some new, others were probably many years old.

"_I have known more pain than you ever will…"_

He had been telling the truth.

Megumi agreed to stay and take care of Aoshi, "but I'm not doing this for him. He can die a long, slow, painful death for all I care. But it's obvious you need him to keep from being lynched. Most people around here don't take kindly to foreigners, be careful."

Lee nodded sleepily. Jack had grown a bit braver and had slowly inched closer to the three during the night. She now had her head on Aoshi's shoulder. The swelling on the bite had gone down and it was only slightly discolored. And in some places, his veins were still a pale purple.

Megumi looked at the three of them and shook her head,

"he owes you so much you know."

Lee looked at her, puzzled. She smiled at the girl. "If it weren't for you, he'd be dead. You saved his life. And held his hand the whole time…hell, you still haven't let go!"

Lee looked down and noticed that…she was right! But she was too tired to care. She'd been up all night and now was simply waiting for Aoshi to wake up…just to be sure that he would…cuz he still looked like he was in bad shape. Megumi looked slightly annoyed, "why are you still waiting to make sure he's all right? You heard the story correctly didn't you? And from what you say, he's officially kidnapped you!" Lee thought for a moment then said, "I don't know…somehow…he just doesn't seem that bad. And think about the guilt he probably goes through because of that…I think he's paid enough."

After a while he finally woke up. He saw Jack laying on his shoulder and waved her off…and IMMEDEATLY REGRETTED IT! Pain shot through his arm like knives. He swore loudly in as many languages as he knew…a few Lee understood as being very bad. "Wow, you _do_ have a foul mouth." She smiled absent-mindedly, "well now that you're awake, I can slee…" she didn't get any farther before she passed out cold.

Aoshi didn't really have the energy to push her off his stomach. She had obviously been up all night. His memory was fuzzy. From the time when the spider had bit him to now, he could only see vague pictures. But one thing he did remember was Lee holding his hand through it all. He sighed and stroked her head, the kid was annoying but he owed her for so much at the same time, she was in so much danger now. If he really did loose control, she wouldn't stand a chance…yet…she knew that, didn't she. He hugged her, _"Baka-chan…"_

"Just as I thought." A voice said from above him. "WOA!" He looked up into the face of Megumi Takani. He shook his head, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Surprised to see me?" she said in a mocking tone.

Yep it was her alright, the most humanoid vixen on the planet.

"So tell me Megumi," he said, "how long till I die from whatever you've probably poisoned me with…if I'm not dead already."

She smiled evilly,

"Oh no, you'll drown in the crap you've created long before I commit murder just to get rid of _you_"

"Touché"

Jack came back to nudge Aoshi for food.

"Dog, does it _look_ like I have anything to eat?"

Jack hung her head and trod over to lie next to Lee.

"so…why are you here then?" he asked hesitantly…afraid of the answer. He soon realized just how much he was at her mercy.

Megumi leaned against a tree, " To keep your sorry ass alive." She grinned triumphantly, "you might've been beyond help if you had gone for much longer without treatment." She laughed in her evil little, "I NOW OWN YOU!" laugh.

Aoshi glared at her, "I'm glad one of us finds this amusing…" he sighed and muttered, "thank you anyway though."

She stopped laughing and looked serious, angry even, "don't thank me, if it were just you here, I would have left you to die in the gutter without a moment's thought," (gee, that's pleasant) "but that girl there," she nodded at Lee, "needs you, hell she even cared enough to venture back into the city to find help…you owe her your life." She finished and crossed her arms.

"I know…" Megumi looked at him. "I know I owe her, never said I didn't. that's why I have to find a way to send her back home…"he finished then stared off into space.

"…AND ANOTHER THING, YOU PETOPHILE!" Megumi yelled at him, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER BRAIN? SHE SEEMS TO THINK YOU'RE THE GOOD GUY! AND YOU'RE STILL STROKING HER HAIR!" he realized that he was and immediately quit. He tried to move out from under her but remembered that his left arm was still useless when pain shot through it again. He swore,

"why does this always happen to _me_!"

Megumi started laughing again.

"SHUT UP VIXEN!"

"why don't you make me, gimp!"

Aoshi tried to lunge for her but couldn't make it due to the immense pain in his left side.

"I don't like you…" he said like a little kid who didn't get his way.

"I don't care for you much either, but I'm staying here to keep your sorry ass alive so DEAL WITH IT! Besides, what're you gonna do? Gnaw my legs off?"

"The suggestion is tempting." He said venomously. He now knew that this was going to be a looooooooong, bedridden week…

woot! Ch 4 dooooone! For my one reader who hates cliffhangers.

sorry to my friends who were worried Aoshi was going to die….BUT HOW STUPID WOULD I BE FOR KILLIN OFF A MAIN CHARACTER SO EARLY!

Okee, see ya in ch:5!

(remember…Megumi makes everything more interesting…hee hee hee)


	5. Vixen vs Icicle

Hi people! It's me!I was talking to some friends about this little story of mine and we came to the conclusion that I am what they call "the Aoshi Nazi" I like to make Aoshi suffer in my stories and really like the stories where he gets smacked, cracked on the head, tripped, bitten, strangled, etc…and especially when he gets plastered, I've found those to be some funny stories. This is my mathematical equation for the day,

Aoshi+ Alcohol+ heavy objects HILARITY!

Anyway to sum-up the story so far…

* * *

"The vixen has come for my soul."

Aoshi said, almost whining. He wasn't allowed to be up and moving around for any extended period of time…and had officially gotten bored. Lee smacked him in the head.

"If she was after your soul she wouldn't have saved you, _baka_."

That was officially her new favorite word, and Aoshi's new nickname for her, _Baka-chan_. It apparently meant "little idiot" in Japanese. Megumi had fallen asleep a few feet away.

This was about the only time it was ever quiet. If they were both awake, it was like having a cat and a dog trapped in a nuclear war at the vet's office. They were both trying to eradicate each other and neither was in a good mood to begin with. They never stopped arguing until either Lee split them up or until one of them fell asleep. They argued about the stupidest of things too. Like fish…()and why everyone thought Megumi was a deceitful humanoid domesticated vixen…and why everyone _knew_ Aoshi was a psychotic humanoid feral cat…and an icicle. After a while, Lee quit trying to make the two get along, and focused more on teaching Jack an attack.

Needless to say, Aoshi didn't see her much anymore. So he had to entertain himself with drawing designs in the dirt…by the end of the day you would have thought that aliens had gotten confused and drew crop circles in the ground instead of the cornfields. Why did this have to happen to him? Did he ever get a break? No. No matter what, Aoshi Shinomori has to be tortured in some way. Oh the BOREDOM!

"If my life gets any more interesting I might just have to lay down and die"

He sighed and stood up…at least he could do that again. Megumi was immediately on his tail,

"OI! ICICLE! SIT DOWN YOU AREN"T SUPPOSED TO BE UP!"

"…"

"I thought you were asleep for a few blissful seconds...vixen"

"Well I'm not, and I'm not gonna let you die that easy! You gotta suffer for a while first!...ICICLE!"

"Conniving vixen…"

"Stubborn icicle!"

This went on for much longer than two adults should ever go on for.

Lee returned with Jack. She had learned the attack a lot easier than expected and…

"_vixen!"_

"_Icicle!"_

"_VIXEN!"_

"_ICICLE!"_

she shook her head…they were arguing again. "all right you two, play nice… honestly, it's really sad when I'm the more mature one here out of two adults and a dog…" she looked up and noticed that they both were shooting her their equally famous death glares…somehow, Lee's vocal cords didn't want to work after that. they continued quarreling until it was night and their voices grew hoarse.

"_All right, Vixen…you win…for now"_

"_I'll always win Icicle…cause you suck…"_

wow…was that really the best she could come up with? "cause you suck?" yikes.

Lee sat with an expression on her face that was usually trademark of Aoshi, blank, slightly angry, bored. "are you done bickering yet?" she asked in the same tone.

Aoshi flopped down beside her,

"yes…for the time being…"

Jack came and sat next to him. Jack now understood names, the tall one was Aoshi, the pup was Lee, and healer female was Vixen. Jack nuzzled Aoshi for food and got a death glare. She slowly backed away then ran to hide behind Lee.

"Well, I don't think I'll have to be here much longer, you haven't died yet so I'll guess you'll be okay…for the time being…Icicle"

Aoshi drew breath to argue but Lee covered his mouth.

"oh no ya don't not again."

He relaxed and pushed Lee's hand away.

"I'll probably leave tomorrow" Megumi said matter-of-factly

"Why wait that long? Why not liberate me now?" Aoshi mumbled under his breath, Lee promptly hit him upside the head

"OW! Hey! No beating up an invalid!"

"I have to make sure you will survive the night, Invalid Icicle. Keep saying crap like that and you won't survive the hour" Megumi growled.

"Try it." Aoshi growled back.

"CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!" Lee cried

"NO!" Megumi and Aoshi yelled back.

* * *

Later that night, Lee had fallen asleep with Jack on her lap. Only Aoshi and megumi were awake. He refused to argue anymore, he didn't want to wake the child.

"is her story true?" Megumi broke the silence, "about how she met you?"

Aoshi looked at her for a moment then answered,

"yes, not sure how it happened but it did."

It was silent again but something had gnawed at his insides for a while,

"I apologize," he said finally.

"what?" Megumi exclaimed, stunned.

"I apologize for working for Kanryu and making your life a misery." He stared off into space, "I was stupid for working for that scum and making other people suffer. I should have found better work but I failed" He looked at her, "please know that it wasn't like I didn't care that he was torturing you like that it's just that I didn't have a choice."

Megumi was surprised, his eyes were a soft green, not the fabled icy blue that struck fear into the most battle-hardened men. They were…kind. She smiled at him, "I understand…" she snapped herself out of it, "but YOU'RE STILL A PETOPHILE ICILE!" he didn't say anything, just laid back on the tree and closed his eyes. She realized that he and Kenshin were not so different. Sure, kenshin smiled a whole lot more and said "oro" but they both had that same, quiet, thoughtful demeanor. Just…Aoshi was a lot scarier. He looked almost amused,

"hmmm. If we had met on different terms we might've even been friends…"

NOW MEGUMI SAW IT! She grabbed a nearby rock and whipped it at his head as hard as she could. He ducked in time but just barely.

He looked up at where his right eye had been and saw a huge crater in the tree's bark. He wouldn't have been surprised to see the smoldering rock embedded in the wood. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Megumi folded her arms,

"GEEZ! I SAVE YOU AND YOU THINK THAT MEANS I'M REMOTELY ATTRACTED TO YOU? WAKE UP!"

"WHA?" Aoshi got angry, "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! CAN'T I JUST APOLOGIZE FOR BEING A JACKASS! BESIDES, THAT WOULD BE BEASTIALITY, VIXEN!"

Lee sleepily moved. Aoshi looked down at her, hoping he hadn't woken her up. (though she could sleep like a bear in hibernation) she opened her eyes but they didn't focus. She smacked him in the head and mumbled a sleepy, "be nice…saved yer ass…ice cube."

Gods, not her too.

"I don't need this, I'm leaving in the morning."

Megumi rolled to the other side of the tree and laid down.

Aoshi sighed and slouched down against the tree he had been leaning on. Lee grabbed his arm and fell asleep on his shoulder. Something like a smile flickered on his face. He absent-mindedly stroked her head as he stared into space. He looked up at the moon, it was blood red as always in his world. But for the first time in years, he saw stars in the sky.

* * *

Lee woke up the next morning on Aoshi's shoulder. She had grabbed it during the night. She didn't really even know why. It was probably the nightmare she'd had. He'd disappeared. Just totally gone and she was left alone. It was one of those dreams that you hate. So simple yet so terrifying at the same time. Before she'd wanted to kick him in the shins and get away from him any way she could. But now, somehow, she wanted him to stay with her. God, only a week and a half with this guy and she was already sleeping on him like they were old pals. But, she really, kinda liked it. He was cold whenever she touched him at first. But eventually he'd get gradually warmer.

She looked at his face. He was still asleep. She nuzzled her face into his shoulder and fell asleep again.

* * *

"Well, Lee, I guess this is goodbye." Megumi said smiling at Lee. They had become fairly good friends in that week (Aoshi still said she was a traitor for being so.) and found that they would miss each other. She leaned in closer and whispered in Lee's ear,

"And if he tries anything stupid, come find me, I'll kill him for you…"

Megumi slipped her a piece of paper with writing on it. Lee raised an eyebrow, what did she mean "stupid?" Aoshi was always stupid if you asked her.

Aoshi stood with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes.

"Well Icicle, don't get killed while I'm not around to see it and laugh." Megumi said to him.

"Oh don't you worry about me, Vixen. You should really worry about the dogs that are hunting you right now." Okay, it was a bad comeback but, hell, it was too early for brain functions.

They began walking their separate ways but Megumi put a hand on Aoshi's shoulder as she passed,

"I think you might've been right, about us being friends under different circumstances… Aoshi."

She lingered for a moment then continued on her way.

"Megumi!" he called after her, she stopped.

"Thank you." He said

She nodded then continued on as did Aoshi, with Lee and Jack at his side.

It took him a while to realize what was wrong with this picture.

"Hey! Wait a minute! Why is that beast still following us?" He said pointing to Jack.

"You never did show me that attack!"

Lee grinned widely, "oh yeah, that's right isn't it? Well Jack, I say we PROVE HIM WRONG!" she yelled the last part and then crouched down.

The mutt came running from behind her then jumped off her back to get extra air. Aoshi didn't have time to draw his swords or barely even blink before the dog hit him in the chest, knocking him to the ground and put her jaws around his throat. He lay there for a moment, stunned that Lee had taught the dog such a complicated attack "Okay…" he whispered, the wind knocked out of him, "we keep the dog."

* * *

Woot! Chapter 5 ish done. I got a question from my friends, how long are you going to make them travel together for? Well people, I can at least say, that they do meet Shishio. (His other royal scariness.)And I have already begun plans on a sequel, trust me, Lee will be around for a long time…(Aoshi: aw crap.)

Lol

L8R SK8R!


	6. Aoshi on Speed

Woot! Chapter 6! And in response to one review, yes MISAO IS GOING TO COME IN! and I haven't forgotten about her. She is one of my alter-egos after-all. Don't worry I have planned a happy ending for everyone…and for once I have a question…I have heard something about Aoshi having something remotely to do with Enishi's kidnapping of Kaoru (or more specifically, figuring out who did it) WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE CLARIFY THAT FOR ME? Hell. I didn't even know he knew _anything_ about Koru's kidnapping,

"_who's a cow?"_

heheheh. Another thing, does anyone know of any funny fanfics on Soul Reaver? (video game, Legacy of Kain) I was having an argument on whether or not anyone could make that funny….if nobody has….than I SHALL! (heroic poseis punched in face by dead, blue and scary) it'll be a challenge but I will. So beware. Anyway, on with the story at hand

"stay….stay…." Aoshi said to the mutt who was eyeing his fish.

I have been staying, now when do I get some fish? Jack thought, annoyed.

"when are we going to come to the next town?" Lee asked, tossing Jack her own fish.

"they get pretty thick from here on, maybe another day or so," Aoshi answered.

He felt something nudge his leg, he looked down and saw Jack looking at him pleadingly. He sighed and handed his fish to her and leaned back.

Lee frowned. " you really should eat more." She said, she remembered how far his ribs stuck out and how caved his stomach was. He opened one eye and looked at her,

"what? Are you my mother now?"

"no it's just…you…you're my lifeline, if you die, I'm screwed." Lee said quickly.

'nice save, Lee…like that was believable' she thought to herself.

"Fine! Starve if you want to. I'll learn Japanese on my own and live here!" She snapped at the look he was giving her. She turned and began messing with her laptop some more.

Aoshi looked to the sky, a memory of another little, determined girl came to him. He wondered how she was doing, it had been years since he'd seen her…all for the best though. If she'd followed him, she probably would've gotten involved with the Kanryu ring too.

"DAMN YOU!" Lee yelled at Aoshi, "EAT SOMETHING!" she pulled a small clear bottle out of her bag and threw it at him. He caught it (hello! Ninja! Like a plastic bottle is really gonna get past him!) and looked it over.

"what's this?" he asked studying the green container. It had text on it that he didn't understand.

"food." Lee said, annoyed that he'd gotten the better of her again without even trying. (how did he do that?)

"I figured as much. What _kind_ of food Baka-chan?" he sat up and studied it harder, he finally figured out how to open the damned device. He grabbed the top and twisted it…nothing

"other way, Icicle."

Damn Megumi…he did so but it suddenly hissed at him like a snake. He instantly dropped it. It was alive!

"It won't bite you, it's just built-up gasses, I swear." Lee said laughing.

Aoshi got annoyed, how did _she_ make _him_ look like the idiot? He twisted it further and the hiss died to a gurgle. But now he could see the surface of the liquid moving, bubbling. There WAS something living in it! But it must've been totally clear…like rice noodles or something…just it moved.

"what is this?" Aoshi asked curiously…and slightly disgusted.

Lee grinned, "Mountain Dew! That stuff will give you a sugar high for days! Although…" she looked at the bottle apprehensively, "that might be the one Mitch spiked with beer…"

Aoshi looked back at the drink…beer? That was an alcoholic drink from Europe…right? If it was, that was bad…his body had always had an incredibly low alcohol tolerance.

"I doubt it is though. Just drink it, you need to eat something and the fish have all been scared away." Lee said dismissively.

He looked at the liquid and shrugged, if someone as small as Lee could handle it, he probably could. He drank it all, it was the oddest thing he'd ever had…

"heh…eheheh…" was…that a laugh? The muscles on his face tugged at his mouth. He couldn't help it. The feeling of the drink fizzed through him, it bit at the back of his throat and his stomach.

"ummm…are you all right?" Lee asked nervously.

He stared at the ground, jet black hair hung limply in his face…and a huge grin stretched across his face, giving him an even more insane look than usual.

His head shot up at her question, "NEVER BEEN BETTER!" he yelled happily. Somehow he didn't seem like the same person. He grinned like he hadn't a care in the world, he looked his age for once! Maybe even younger.

"know what? It's way too nice to be sitting around, let's get moving!" he stood and gathered his swords.

"WHAT? You mean now? But…you just barely got up!" Lee yelled in shock.

Before Lee knew what was going on, Aoshi shot off along the river, Jack sprinting along after him, struggling to keep up.

"what the-ICICLE! WAIT UP!" she grabbed her bag, threw the laptop in it, and sprinted after them.

Sure enough though, Aoshi and Jack disappeared from sight within seconds. Lee slowed down, then stopped. "Aoshi!" she called helplessly, "where are you? Aoshi!" she heard something… footsteps…but from where? "Aoshi?" the steps got faster and louder and closer… "what is that?"

Something hit her from behind with the force of a freight train and before she knew it she was going about as fast. Lee realized that she wasn't splattered on the cattle catcher of the noon metra, she was in a pair of strong arms that seemed to be coursing with energy. She looked into the face of Aoshi…wasn't it? Except a huge grin was stretched across it.

"damn kid! What IS this stuff? Now I know where all that boundless energy comes from!"

Lee didn't hear a word he said, she was utterly terrified. Something was seriously wrong, Aoshi was smiling, Aoshi was carrying her, Aoshi was smiling…did I mention that AOSHI WAS SMILING!

Now remember Kids, there are seven types of frightened women, the screamers, the squeakers, the strugglers, the fighters, the burrowers, the runners, and the huggers. Lee was a burrower. The faster Aoshi went, the closer she buried her face in his chest. The closer she got, the faster Aoshi ran.

"VIVE LE MOUNTAIN DEW!" he yelled grinning as widely as his face would allow.

About twenty miles later, Jack finally tripped over her own paws, and Aoshi decided to stop and set up for the night. He let the shaky Lee down to stand on her own feet. The grin was finally beginning to fade.

"are you back to sanity yet?" Lee asked trying to take a step, it would take a while for her to get her landlegs back.

Aoshi felt the adrenaline draining from his body along with his energy. He let himself drop against a tree and pushed the bangs from his face because they stuck uncomfortably. His breathing was still heavy and he was panting almost as hard as Jack, who had collapsed a few feet away.

"no, not quite yet…"

Aoshi gave a weak laugh, "Heh…well, that's not something you see every day." He let his head flop against the trunk of a tree. His vision began to swim and an odd feeling swept over him…that was too the one with alcohol in it.

He was turning even paler than usual. Lee began to get worried,

"are you alright?" she asked moving closer to him. He'd been running for a few hours straight, it was getting dark already actually.

He didn't answer. Lee touched his arm gently, "Aoshi…" he looked at her and gave her a gentle smile, "yes…I'll be fine, don't worry about me."

Lee didn't believe him, his eyes seemed unfocused, not quite there. Suddenly he turned to her, "Lee…" he spoke softly, And took hold of her wrists. He laid her down and he hovered above her. He wondered why he'd never realized she was so beautiful before.

Lee was officially freaked out now…. "uuummmmm….Aoshi? what are you-" he didn't seem to hear her, he leaned in very close and whispered in her ear, "lee, I need you to do me a favor…"

He nuzzled her neck softly, "please…." Lee was a little afraid and yet… she kinda liked this….

"what?" she asked quietly.

"I need you…" he said. For a moment Lee thought that was his entire sentence and her heart began to beat even faster. Then she heard,

"….to slap me as hard as you can…."

"what?"

"please, slap me in the face…"

"ummmmm…okay…." She wound up and smacked him as hard as she could, the sound reverberated off the trees and he fell with a thud, "thank….you…."

"OH MY GOD! I AM SO SORRY! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?"

Aoshi pushed himself up off the ground and shook his head, "yes, I'm fine…..I believe that was the one with alcohol in it…." He sat up and explained, "I have always had a very low alcohol tolerance, I get very drunk very quickly and well….I get like…that…." he rubbed his face where a large red handprint was beginning to appear, "I needed that…"

He slumped against the tree and looked at lee again, "y'know….you look like somebody familiar….."

"huh?" lee looked confused at this out-of-the-blue comment,

"a little girl I once knew. Though, I think she may have been even more hyper than you…if that's humanly possible."

Lee let him space out for a moment or two then asked, "where is she now?"

Aoshi shrugged as he pushed away from the tree a little, "don't know….I left when she was ten"

He sighed, "she probably gave the old man hell when she woke up that morning..." a devilish little voice in the back of his head muttered, _'good...that's what he gets for torturing me all those years..'_

His body was really feeling the energy crash now, his eyes wouldn't stay open, his muscles burned.

Lee felt kinda sorry for him and shuffled between him and the tree and rubbed his shoulders, (after all it was all her fault for giving him the stuff...)

He lost the fight...his eyes closed and he passed out cold before he even fell. When he did finally drop, he fell back onto the unsuspecting Lee, his head resting in her lap...awkward...

"ummm..." she looked around and tried to move but Aoshi was too heavy. Jack raised her head and gave Lee a look of_, "oh-HO! And I thought he was scaaaaaaary, and weeeeeeeird, and craaaaaaazy..."_

"shaddup, dog!" Lee yelled at the mutt. Then looked back at Aoshi and gave in to the fact that she was stuck and he was out cold. She sighed and brushed a strand of jet-black hair from his face...he looked so much less creepy when he was sleeping...

"_you almost lost it..." that voice...cold and icy. Aoshi didn't even aknowledge it...didn't even blink. "you can't win, brother...if only a singly drink weakens you that much..." _

_it was right...he had cut it too close that time. he couldn't let her soften him anymore. _

"_that's right...you will turn to ice again..."_

-

WOOT! Sorry for taking so long. I've been in school and really buisy and umm...kinda for got,

Gomen nisai...

Aoshi on speed


End file.
